You simply can’t get more fashionable than Milan. In a city where people live for the oddities and anorexia of Fashion Week, and where style is as important as oxygen, it can be hard to stand out. Luckily, Bot - one half of Italo-wonk-house duo Crookers - is on hand to give us a level-headed style guide to his home city.
Though to be honest, few could blame Bot and Crookers’ other half Phra if they weren’t quite so level-headed. The crunky electro and busy basslines of their debut album, ‘Tons Of Friends’, caused a riot (the good kind) when released earlier this year. Everybody now wants a piece of Crookers. Including Milan, where the duo are naturally in high demand, but choose to limit their shows to occasional performances to keep the crowed hyped.
“It has different souls,” says Bot of his home city. He’s not wrong, especially when it comes to fashion. But despite some bizarre catwalk disasters, Milan’s style is more timeless than outrageous. “It’s more classic than you might think,” says Bot. “People don’t dress really crazy. London is ten times more crazy and interesting when you walk around and look at how people are dressed. Milan isn’t that avant-garde. If people aren’t in the fashion business or really into fashion, they don’t dress originally. On the other hand, people generally don’t dress badly, which is something you might see in other places!”
Bot explains that he was never one for Gucci or Armani - preferring to rock his own style of colourful, graphic T-shirts and baseball caps - until told otherwise by his girlfriend.
“Unfortunately, she got me into designer clothes and expensive stuff. She told me, ‘You look like a skater’.” Wisely seeking to placate his other half, Bot then splashed out on some designer clobber, including a very, very expensive suit. “Because I never wear suits or nice shoes and I just wear jeans or whatever, I got really crazy with buying a Dior suit. I don’t think I’ve ever spent so much money on a piece of clothing. But on the other hand it’s an investment, because I think it will last forever. I don’t have any other suits, so I thought if I buy one I’ll buy a really nice one. Sorted.”
But, fashionable as he and Phra may be, both are the polar opposite of the moody fashionista stereotype. Though it may provide some great aesthetics - in both people and place - Bot is well aware that the influence of Milan’s fashion culture on the city’s music scene is not necessarily a healthy one for those interested in alternative sounds: “The nightlife music scene is very ruled by the whole fashion thing going on, which is cool maybe for the design and vibes, because there are really some interesting clubs and places, but I have to say, musically those places are usually not interesting. Not the kind of places I go when I go out in Milan.”
But Milan does have its share of great music spots. “It’s probably the most musical city in Italy. People who make music usually move there if they come from another part of the country,” says Bot. But what next for Crookers? Some welcome dancefloor madness, of course. “Because our last album was not strictly for the dancefloor, we had a good break from making ‘bangers’ and stuff like that,” explains Bot. “So now we’re really looking forward to putting out something more for the dancefloor.”
Surely even Milan’s fussiest fashionistas will put down their cosmopolitans and risk scuffing their Pradas to hit the dancefloor for whatever delights Crookers next bestow upon us.
Words by Tristan Parker
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Retail therapy
“One area that is interesting for clothes in Milan is the classic Monte Napoleone, where you can find all the super classic big brands like Gucci, Dior and all that stuff. But also newer, designer stuff. There are some interesting shops still with high-level designer clothes, but made by designers who work for big brands but also do their own stuff.”
Restaurants
“There are definitely great places. My favourite fish place is called Giacomo. It’s really simple fish but really fresh. But it’s so good that you don’t care how it’s cooked. It’s just amazing. I’m also a super fan of Japanese food. I really recommend Miso, it’s a really great place to eat and they just stole the chef from Nobu.”
Botspots
“Killer Plastic is open to all kinds of music and is where people go after a bar and club. Everybody ends up there. Yellow Submarine was originally a lesbian club. It has really good art direction and does all kinds of music. Because it’s small you can afford to do musical stuff that’s not well-known and not so popular and still get the club full and have good vibes.”
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Clash's A-Z to Milan
Body Resistance Music
Small Italian house record label, started by DJ Stefano Fontana.
Café Norbest
“It’s really nice there and Phra used to live in the same street, so we always ended up there,” says Bot.
Corso Como
An area of near-identical, expensive clubs. WAG central, basically.
Leonardo da Vinci
Artist, sculptor and architect, made famous by painting a smirking brunette.
Milan Fashion Week
Go vogue it up on the catwalk, just don’t fall over.
Panettone
The weird bread/Christmas Cake hybrid that no-one actually eats.
Silvio Berlusconi
Italy’s ever-amusing Prime Minister. Reportedly not adverse to younger bella donnas.
